Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession
7.8 /10 1 Votes
Director Alexandra Cassavetes Initial DVD release October 11, 2005 Duration Language English | 7.6/10 IMDb Genre Documentary, History Music director Steven Hufsteter Country United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date 2004 Initial release October 13, 2004 (Los Angeles) Cast (Himself), (Himself), (Himself), Paul Verhoeven (Himself), (Himself), (Himself)Similar movies (500) Days of Summer , The Man from Earth , Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape , Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies , Factory Girl , Thinking XXX |
Film montage from z channel a magnificent obsession 2004
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession is a 2004 documentary film about Los Angeles pay cable channel Z Channel which was directed by Xan Cassavetes, daughter of Hollywood director and actor John Cassavetes. It was screened out of competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
Contents
- Film montage from z channel a magnificent obsession 2004
- Jacqueline bisset z channel a magnificent obsession
- People Interviewed for the Film
- Selected Films Featured on Z Channel
- Reception
- Home video
- References

The documentary is about Z Channel which was one of the first pay cable TV stations in the US. Z Channel became famous for showing an eclectic variety of films, including foreign language, silent, documentary, director's cut, forgotten, overlooked, under-appreciated, erotic as well as mainstream films, without commercials and uncut and letterbox-ed when possible.

The film also tells the story of Z Channel's programming director Jerry Harvey who was a true film lover, programming genius, and a man almost single-handedly responsible for getting many great films shown to the public. It gives insights into Harvey's constant battle with personal demons which resulted in him ending his own life and the life of his wife in a murder-suicide. Throughout the film a variety of footage featuring some of the films shown on the Z Channel is used. This serves to underline the diversity offered on the channel in particular its attempts to expose its American viewers to undubbed foreign language films. The films ends with a montage of scenes of such films with Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do?" theme being played over the top of them as performed by the actor William Atherton from the film The Great Gatsby (1974).
Jacqueline bisset z channel a magnificent obsession
People Interviewed for the Film
Selected Films Featured on Z Channel
Reception
Z Channel has an overall approval rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
At Metacritic, the movie scored 85/100 based on 4 critics
Home video
The film was released to DVD in 2004 as a 2-disc special edition, which included numerous bonus features. A VHS release and standard 1-disc edition followed in 2005.
References
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession WikipediaZ Channel: A Magnificent Obsession IMDb Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession themoviedb.org